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An unedited transmission from the parliament
April 21, 09.30. In thirty minutes, the parliament’s plenary meeting is to begin. In the press room cameramen are setting up and connecting their cameras.
At 09.40, a representative of the parliament’s press service asks who wants to film in the plenary meeting room. Only two cameramen request badges – from Jurnal TV and Pro TV Chisinau. The others are not so eager, because they already know from the previous parliament meeting that they will not be allowed to leave the balcony with their camera until a break for MPs is announced. Also, during the meeting, they will not be able to move to the other balcony so as to change the filming perspective.
At 09.50, the two cameramen, accompanied by the press service representative, went to the balcony reserved for the press. Before the meeting started, we spoke with them. They said they were pleased they could film inside, but that there were some problems. “We filmed here at the previous meeting as well. Eight cameramen requested access then, but by the end of the meeting only three remained. Today, as you can see, there are just the two of us. Because there are problems – here, we can film from only one perspective and we don’t have a good sound. It is good for the channels that can afford two cameramen, one in the balcony and one in the press room, where they can film MP’s declarations. But only one or two televisions can afford it,” explained Petru Platon, cameraman for Jurnal TV. His colleague, Gheorghe Stemate from Pro TV Chisinau, added: “We appreciate that we have free access. But when declarations are made in the press room, we are not allowed to leave the balcony with cameras in order to film them. And sometimes the declaration of an MP is more important than what we film here.”
The press service: “So that everything doesn’t become a chaos…”
It should be explained why cameramen are not allowed to leave with cameras during meetings, when MPs make declarations. Liliana Anghel, representative of the parliament’s press service, said: “Once entered there, they can take cameras out of there only during breaks. They themselves can leave, but not with cameras. So that everything doesn’t become a chaos. At the first meeting, we had a situation when cameramen wanted to film MPs’ declarations, and we tried to ask MPs to make their declarations in the break or after the meeting, so that cameramen could film them. It was difficult, that is why today, probably, there were fewer requests from cameramen to film in the meeting room,” Liliana Anghel told us.
What MPs think about the presence of cameras in the room
As for MPs, they told us that the presence of cameras in the two balconies for the press does not disturb them. “It is ok for us. But I don’t know what images they can take, when sometimes the only thing they can film is the backs of MPs’ heads. I think that is why at the previous meeting there were at first many of them, then fewer, and by the end of the meeting there were only cameras without cameramen,” said Liberal Party MP Roman Botan. Independent MP Iurie Leanca said that “for better transparency in decision making, we even welcome their presence in the room.” And Liberal Democratic Party MP Chiril Lucinschi said: “For us there is no problem, but I think it is uncomfortable for them, because they can take their cameras out only during breaks.”
Atmosphere in the press room
We go into the press room, too. Here, all tables are occupied. Eight cameras are ready to record eventual declarations of MPs. We ask why cameramen did not want to go film the parliament’s plenary meeting. “We stayed in the press room so as not to miss the declarations that MPs might make any time they want. The sound there is not quite good, either, so we can only film background scenes,” a cameraman said. “Our TV channel cannot afford sending two cameras to the parliament, so I chose to stay here. The images we receive on monitors are clear, with better sound, so why should I go to that balcony where I can film from one perspective only? In any case, we usually make the majority of news reports based on what MPs declare in the press room,” another cameraman added.
The speaker’s public statements
In the evening, in the “Moldova in direct” program on the public television Moldova 1, we find what Andrian Candu, the chairman of parliament, thinks about the poor presence of cameramen at the parliament’s plenary meetings: “I am a bit surprised that after so much struggle of someone who fought for access for cameras (…) today, in the plenum of the parliament, although we gave them space for 12 or 14 cameras, the entire day we had only two cameras, and at one point only one remained. Last week, too, ten cameras entered, but in half an hour they disappeared. They returned to the press room, where journalists have all the necessary conditions…”
Conclusions
Summarizing these opinions, we could conclude that cameramen access to plenary meetings was a welcome decision. But for more efficiency, there are some more problems to solve. For example: cameramen should be allowed to go out with cameras when they need to film declarations in the press room; they should be allowed to move from one balcony to the other so as to film from different perspectives; they should be allowed to freely go in and out of the meeting room so as to be able to promptly provide live interventions and other important operative images; technical conditions should be ensured for a better sound, without jamming, just like in the recordings made by the parliament’s editor.
